Photos & Musings by Elana

Weddings & Pearls: A lustrous marriage

Wedding pearls can be worn in a multitude of colors, shapes and styles; as a simple white 6mm Akoya cultured pearl strand, as a diamond and silver-gray Tahitian cultured pearl pendant, as large South Sea cultured pearl drop earrings or perhaps as a multi-strand freshwater cultured pearl necklace.Whichever design you chose, pearls are an idyllic wedding day accessory.

I remember looking for my own bridal necklace nearly 10 years ago, hoping to find the perfect necklace to match my ball gown style wedding dress. Unfortunately there were no family heirlooms, so I relied on my small post college budget, knowing simply that I could only picture myself wearing pearls. What better symbol of love than a gem that requires time to grow and is beautiful as it is without having to be faceted or cut?

Pearls and weddings do have a long involved history that spans multiple cultures and many centuries. Ancient Hindu text talks about the story of Krishna, who "brought forth pearls from the depths of the sea to give to his daughter Pandaia on her wedding day." (The Rigveda, 1000 BCE ) Ancient Greeks believed that if a bride wore pearls she would have a happy marriage with few tears. During the crusades, knights returning from the Middle East bestowed pearls upon their bride for their wedding day. By the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Century, pearls were the height of bridal fashion with Royal Weddings in the House of Burgundy taking place in a veritable "sea of pearls." (The Pearl Book, Antoinette Matlins)

Pearls were also the choice for engagement rings up until the early Twentieth Century.Many famous European and American socialites had engagement rings of large pink, white or black pearls. Countess Court Haugwitz-Reventlow, the former Barbara Hutton, wore a large black Tahitian pearl engagement ring. The last empress of Russia wore a pink pearl engagement ring and the Queen Mother has worn a pearl and diamond engagement ring since 1940. Pearls represented a symbol of love, happiness and purity were a perfect gift for a bride. At the beginning of the twentieth century pearls were just as popular as diamonds as a wedding gift or adornment for brides.

No matter what pearl design a bride chooses, there is no better symbol of purity and natural, beautiful love than pearls.Perhaps this is why it has been the choice of brides and grooms for hundreds of years.